Colfax Rejects Change in Pot Dispensary Ordinance

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COLFAX-

By a vote of 3-2, the Colfax City Council rejected a change of ordinance that would have allowed medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.

A standing-room-only crowd spent more than four hours inside the council chamber Wednesday night debating the issue.

For nine years, until the summer of 2012, a dispensary operated out of a now vacant building in downtown Colfax. California law allowed it. But it closed when the Federal Government sent a warning, cracking down on these businesses because marijuana is still an illegal drug according to Federal law.

Last fall, Attorney General Eric Holder said the U.S. Government would back off the issue, leaving it up to state and local law.

A group called Colfax Herbal Collective was asking the council to allow local dispensaries to open up again.

But Colfax now has an ordinance prohibiting that type of business in the city. The council’s Wednesday night vote was a decision to keep that ordinance in effect.

Currently, there are no marijuana dispensaries in Placer, El Dorado, and Nevada Counties.